Shotcuts: A producer’s hat

Busy with his current projects MGR (directed by Sunder C.) and Pattathu Yaanai (Boopathy Pandian), actor Vishal is excited to turn producer for his next film. Teaming up with director Suseendran for Pandia Nadu, a tale of vendetta, Vishal says, “I liked the subject so much that I told Suseendran I will produce the film under my new banner Vishal Film Factory. We will be shooting in different parts of Tamil Nadu — such as Madurai, Coonoor and Tirunelveli. The songs will be shot at a foreign locale. We are looking at a Deepavali release.” Lakshmi Menon is paired with the actor. The cast includes Suri, Vikranth, Vairavan and Somasundaram. Music is by D. Imman and cinematography, by Mathi.

Wedding bells

Well, music director G.V. Prakash Kumar is readying to set up a production house and to be an actor in a film. But what has really upped his joy quotient is his wedding with childhood sweetheart singer Saindhavi on June 27. “We have waited for this for long. Now that I have completed 25 films and she’s an established singer, both our families decided this was the right time,” he says. As for now the couple is as busy with the wedding plans as it is with zeroing in on the honeymoon destination.

Wild encounters

The crew of Thalakonam had plenty of wild encounters, thanks to the film’s primary location — jungle! “The forest was dense. We shot there for months together, and the place was teeming with snakes and venomous insects. We’d also lose our way in the forest and take many hours to find our way back,” says Jithesh, who plays the lead in the film. Though he completed Aeronautics studies from the Madras Flying Club, he pursed theatre to follow his passion. After roles in Aegan and Peranmai, Jithesh played the lead in Chikki Mukki. He has two more projects in his kitty now. Thalakonam is directed by Padmaraj, an associate of director Samudirakani.

Big on short films

Actor-director R. Pandiarajan has taken to short films in a big way. After shorts and documentaries such as Magan, Iru Thuligal, Azhaghu and Help earned him applause, awards and film festival screenings, he’s ready with his latest, Pot, screened at the Hibulb Cultural Centre Film Festival in U.S. recently. “The documentary is about the journey of the earthen pot that accompanies a man through his life. The film was declared the runner up in Best Direction at the festival. I’m glad it came in for much appreciation,” he says. The 19-minute-11-second documentary was also written and produced by him. It was edited by B. Lenin and the music was by Srikanth Deva.